4/4 Urchin, saving orcas, salmon suit, herring fishery, 'Artifishal,' rising sea, coral death, Seattle port, sea turtles

Red sea urchin [Kirt L. Onthank]

Red sea urchin Strongylocentrotus franciscanus
Red sea urchins are found in the Pacific Ocean, from the coast of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands to Baja California in the east, and in the west, from Siberia to the northern reaches of Japan. They prefer rocky, protected areas of the ocean in shallow water close to shore, though occasionally they are found as deep as 100 metres. In Canada, the main fishery is located off the coast of British Columbia. Red sea urchins are spherical, covered with a tough shell bristling with pointy spines. Their colour varies from red to reddish-brown, dark burgundy or purple. They move around using special tube feet underneath their bodies that create suction. Also on their underside is a mouth with five teeth. Their shell-or "test"-can grow to a maximum of about 18 centimetres. (DFO Canada)

Environmentalists see key window of opportunity to help Orcas survive
Four bills making their way through the legislature seek to lessen the biggest threats facing the killer whales: water pollution and noise from boat traffic, dwindling salmon runs, and the risk of oil spills in the Salish Sea.
    HB 1579, “Implementing recommendations of the southern resident killer whale task force related to increasing Chinook abundance,” which is expected to cost $1.1 million in 2019-2021.
    HB 1578, “Reducing threats to southern resident killer whales by improving the safety of oil transportation,” which is expected to cost $1.4 million in 2019-2021 and over $2 million every two years after that.
    SB 5135, “Preventing toxic pollution that affects public health or the environment,” which is expected to cost $1 million in 2019-2021.
    SB 5577, “Concerning the protection of southern resident Orca whales from vessels,” which is expected to cost close to $1.6 million in 2019-2021. Anna Boiko-Weyrauch reports. (KUOW)

Social networks a key to orca survival
Understanding the social networks and family bonds of Puget Sound's southern resident orcas may be critical to keeping the endangered whales from extinction. A healthy population is about more than numbers, scientists say. It's about connections. Sarah DeWeerdt reports. (Salish Sea Currents)

Groups sue to restrict salmon fishing, help Northwest orcas
Federal officials said they may restrict salmon fishing off the West Coast to help the Pacific Northwest’s critically endangered orcas, but two environmental groups are suing anyway to ensure it happens. The Center for Biological Diversity, which filed a lawsuit nearly two decades ago to force the U.S. government to list the orcas as endangered, and the Wild Fish Conservancy asked the U.S. District Court in Seattle on Wednesday to order officials to reconsider a 2009 finding that commercial and recreational fisheries did not jeopardize the orcas’ survival. The National Marine Fisheries Service issued a letter early last month indicating that it intends to do so. Julie Teel Simmonds, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, said the point of the lawsuit is to ensure they finish the job with urgency, given the plight of the orcas, and to take short-term steps in the meantime to help provide more of the orcas’ favored prey, Chinook salmon. Gene Johnson reports. (Associated Press)

B.C. herring fishery ends for another season, controversy over catch continues
Commercial fishing boats on the B.C. coast have returned to their home ports after a successful spring herring roe fishery in the Strait of Georgia off Vancouver Island, but opponents of the catch are already gearing up for next season. The threat of overfishing and the impact a herring population collapse could have on British Columbia’s marine ecosystem, particularly chinook salmon and southern resident killer whales, has conservation, environmental and some Indigenous groups demanding an indefinite suspension of the fishery. Dirk Meissner reports. (Canadian Press)

If you like to watch: Artifishial
Patagonia previews their new film, Artifishial. "Artifishal is a film about people, rivers, and the fight for the future of wild fish and the environment that supports them. It explores wild salmon’s slide toward extinction, threats posed by fish hatcheries and fish farms, and our continued loss of faith in nature." Check out the preview and the screening dates and locations.

Canada's sea levels are rising — and that's got British Columbians in coastal cities concerned
Canada's sea levels are rising at a dramatic rate, according to new climate change report leaked this week, and that has B.C.'s coastal cities worried. The report, commissioned by the Environment and Climate Change Department, warns that the country's oceans are going up between one millimetre and 4.5 millimetres each year. "The effects of sea level rise — what you see, as sea levels rise — depends on what your coastline is doing," said Greg Flato, one of the authors of the new government report who also teaches at the University of Victoria.  On B.C.'s North Coast, for example, without a reduction in global warming, the water is predicted to rise by 50 centimetres over the next eight decades. Clare Hennig reports. (CBC)

Great Barrier Reef: Mass decline in 'coral babies', scientists say
The number of new corals on Australia's Great Barrier Reef has plunged by 89% since unprecedented bleaching events in 2016 and 2017, scientists say. The events, which damaged two-thirds of the world's largest reef system, are now being blamed for triggering a collapse in coral re-growth last year. "Dead corals don't make babies," said lead author Prof Terry Hughes, from Queensland's James Cook University. The scientists blame the problem on rising sea temperatures. The research, published in journal Nature on Thursday, was carried out by a group of scientists last year. (BBC)

Drummin' birds
Yesterday's item about drumming woodpeckers [Drumming with Woodpeckers] brought this reply from Rick Haley in Mount Vernon: "Several years ago I needed a quick campsite after a late night drive from Anacortes and ended up very close to Hwy 410 just east of Chinook Pass.  In the morning I was awakened by a sapsucker drumming on the speed limit sign.  Pretty significant racket.  Kept after it for quite a while... The flickers hammer on the light fixtures over the parking lot here.  Fortunately it’s far enough away that it doesn’t affect the work environment.  Several years ago a flicker bashed a hole in a friend’s siding in Portland.  But I still like them."

Seattle port slated for $500 million upgrade for larger ships and new cruise berth 
The ports of Seattle and Tacoma have approved a $500 million plan to revamp and lease Terminal 5 just east of West Seattle to accommodate larger ships, and to shift some operations that should result in a new berth for cruises to Alaska. The Northwest Seaport Alliance commission, the coalition between the two local ports, approved the projects and associated leases at a board meeting Tuesday, with an 8-2 vote (Tacoma commissioners Don Meyer and John McCarthy dissented). The port also plans to use part of Terminal 46, just west of the stadiums, as an Alaska cruise berth, by shifting some international cargo to Terminal 18 on Harbor Island. Mike Rosenberg reports. (Seattle Times)

It's checkup time for sea turtles at Point Defiance Zoo 
Getting huge sea turtles from their habitat to an exam room and back is an annual challenge for the care team — and for these turtles. It’s amazing how comforting a beach towel can be. Not wrapped around the torso, but placed over the heads of endangered green sea turtles Sunny and Azul. They’re 15-year-old brothers who were hatched and hand-raised in captivity in Southern California. It’s time for their annual physical exams at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. Alan Berner reports. (Seattle Times)


Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  228 AM PDT Thu Apr 4 2019   
TODAY  E wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 1 to 2 ft. SW swell 3 ft  at 15 seconds. 
TONIGHT  E wind to 10 kt becoming SE 5 to 15 kt after midnight.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 3 ft at 14 seconds. Rain.



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